Chris Barton, creator of Shazam, highlights AI's role in future urban mobility at Global Mobility Call

The creator of the music recognition app Shazam, Chris Barton, participated in the second day of Global Mobility Call, organised at IFEMA MADRID together with Smobhub. The expert, who led the Main Stage presentation, pointed out that Artificial Intelligence can contribute to improving efficiency in transport planning in cities, and that experiences such as the driverless taxis operated by Waymo in San Francisco offer a "glimpse into the future" of urban mobility. For Barton, sitting in the back of driverless vehicles allows one to "imagine the autonomous nature" of future mobility, "whether it's a car, a truck, a bus or a van".

In addition, the founder of Shazam said that, from his own experience as a technology developer, there are lessons that can be extrapolated to the field of sustainable mobility, both for companies and corporations or for non-profit organisations, for whom he sets two key notions: "really think about the future" and "take ideas to the extreme to make them a reality".

"In mobility, you can often have a great idea, but that idea alone is not enough," he said during the interview, because there can be many obstacles to making it a reality, such as regulations, technical or financial challenges, or even reluctance on the part of users to adopt a new service. This is why he believes it is not only essential to "be creative in finding solutions", but also to try to gain the necessary support to drive innovation.

Barton also explained to the audience that Shazam was "the first AI invention in history for mass consumption, to be used by millions of people", while today, AI "is going to be integrated into every aspect of the way we do things".

For example, back to the mobility sector, we try to plan the times at which trains arrive or which means of transport are needed to move to different places, and all this is based "on many, many variables from huge amounts of data".

Under this premise, in his opinion, AI solutions can be used to develop more "efficient" and "optimal strategies for planning" transport in cities. Furthermore, in his speech at the Global Mobility Call, the creator of Shazam, an application that has accumulated more than 1 billion downloads, pointed to "persistence, resilience and a real understanding of what the idea is" as the keys to success.

In a tour of the different phases of the app's development, Barton stressed the importance of "creative perseverance" in order to achieve revolutionary breakthroughs. "My idea almost failed because it wasn't originally good," he reminded the audience, urging them to be "creative in overcoming barriers" to "a breakthrough idea".

                                                                                       *Content provided by Agencia EFE